By our correspondent, Surat, 27 February 2013

U.S. Consul General Peter Haas visited Surat on February 26 and 27. During his first visit to Surat, Consul General Haas met with students, businessmen, diamond traders and members of a local NGO. Consul General Haas’ outreach included visits to Reliance and L&T facilities at Hazira and an educational institution, Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah where he discussed U.S.-India ties with the Dawoodi Bohra students.

During an interaction with the diamond industry traders, Consul General Haas underscored how India is an important stakeholder in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). The KPCS was established to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the mainstream rough diamond market. Peter Haas stated “With India and the United States working together, the Kimberly Process can address conflict diamonds that fund violent organizations that abuse human rights and undermine elected democracies.”

Consul General Haas also participated in the Visit-USA (VUSA) seminar to promote the United States as a destination of choice for Indian travelers especially for leisure, and meetings and incentive travel. He emphasized that the United States provides all visa applicants with an efficient, transparent, and standardized application process. Haas noted “We want Indians to visit the United States and are working with VUSACOM to achieve our goal of having 1 million Indian visitors travel to the United States by 2015.” Consul General Haas’ Surat visit highlights the U.S. government’s commitment to deepen people-to-people ties and strengthen our bilateral business and trade ties.